VideoView black flash before and after playing

Question

I have a VideoView which I want to use to play a movieclip. I use it like this to play it and it works.

VideoView vv = new VideoView(this);
vv.setVideoURI(Uri.parse("android.resource://cortex2.hcbj/raw/intro"));
setContentView(vv);
vv.start();

However I see a black flash just before and after the movie clip. The flash in itself isn't a big problem, but the blackness of it is. The background is white, so if the flash is white, or if it dissapears it will be okay.

Answer 1

My workaround for this diabolical bug utilised a blank View with the background colour of choice over the top of the VideoView.

<View
        android:id="@+id/blankView"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="fill_parent"
        android:background="@color/white" />

then in my code I did this:

        video = (VideoView) findViewById(R.id.video);
        // set the video URI, passing the vSourse as a URI
        video.setVideoURI(Uri.parse(vSource));
        video.setZOrderOnTop(false);

        SurfaceHolder sh = video.getHolder();
        sh.setFormat(PixelFormat.TRANSPARENT);

        ctlr = new BCDMediaController(this);
        ctlr.setMediaPlayer(video);
        video.setMediaController(ctlr);
        video.setOnCompletionListener(new MediaPlayer.OnCompletionListener() {              
            @Override
            public void onCompletion(MediaPlayer mp) {
                closeActivity();
            }
        });

        blankView = findViewById(R.id.blankView);

        video.setOnPreparedListener(new MediaPlayer.OnPreparedListener() {
            @Override
            public void onPrepared(MediaPlayer mp) {    
                blankView.postDelayed(new Runnable() {
                        public void run()
                        {
                            blankView.setVisibility(View.GONE);
                        }
                    }, 500);                    
            }
        });

        video.start();
        video.requestFocus();

That got rid of the beginning black flash for me. Then for the end black flash, I did this:

private void closeActivity() {  
blankView.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);        
    blankView.postDelayed(new Runnable() {
        public void run()
        {
            video.setOnCompletionListener(null);
            video.stopPlayback();
            video.suspend();
            VideoPlayerViewController.this.finish();
        }
    }, 1);    
}

Answer 2

There is one alternative that you are use media controller for this. Here is sample code

videoView = (VideoView) this.findViewById(R.id.videoView);
MediaController mc = new MediaController(this);
videoView.setMediaController(mc);
videoView.setVideoURI(Uri.parse("http://c421470.r70.cf2.rackcdn.com/video_5983079.m4v"));
videoView.start();
videoView.requestFocus(); 

Try this.

Answer 3

i had the same problem and white instead of black was ok for me.. i tried all of solutions above i came up with the following

vv.setBackgroundColor(Color.WHITE);
vv.postDelayed(new Runnable() {
                @Override
                public void run() {
                    vv.setVideoURI(videoUri);
                }
            }, 100);
vv.postDelayed(new Runnable() {
                @Override
                public void run() {
                    vv.setBackgroundColor(Color.TRANSPARENT);
                }
            }, 300);
            vv.requestFocus();
            vv.start();

and delayed my video 400 ms start fading from white works like a charm for me

Answer 4

Why not using Styling and Themes

Can you try this ? This might help

colors.xml

<drawable name="transparent">#00000000</drawable>

styles.xml

<style name="Transparent">
<item name="android:windowIsTranslucent">true</item>
<item name="android:windowAnimationStyle">
@android:style/Animation.Translucent
</item>
<item name="android:windowBackground">@drawable/transparent</item>
<item name="android:windowNoTitle">true</item>
<item name="android:colorForeground">#fff</item>
</style>

To set a theme for all the activities of your application, open the AndroidManifest.xml file and edit the tag to include the android:theme attribute with the style name.

<application android:theme="@style/Transparent">

Answer 5

My variation on the @tommyd theme:

Set the drawable to a static video frame, then spam the message queue. After some time, clear the drawable so video frames render. Then, before completion, set the static image back.

    mMovieView.setBackgroundDrawable(bg);
    mMovieView.start();

    final int kPollTime= 25;
    mMovieView.postDelayed(new Runnable() {

        private final int kStartTransitionInThreshold= 50;
        private final int kStartTransitionOutThreshold= 250;

        private boolean mTransitioned= false;
        @Override
        public void run() {
            if (mMovieView.isPlaying()) {
                if (mMovieView.getCurrentPosition() > kStartTransitionInThreshold && !mTransitioned) {
                    mMovieView.setBackgroundDrawable(null); // clear to video
                    mTransitioned= true;
                }

                if (mMovieView.getDuration() - mMovieView.getCurrentPosition() < kStartTransitionOutThreshold)
                    mMovieView.setBackgroundDrawable(bg);
            }

            mMovieView.postDelayed(this, kPollTime); // come back in a bit and try again
        }
    }, kPollTime);

Answer 6

I had same problem this has worked for me ..

When you want to show video make videoView.setZOrderOnTop(false); and when you want to hide video view just make videoView.setZOrderOnTop(true);